Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1887-04-16
Economy of Time and Labor.

The level-headed, calculating farm
er, while careful to avoid waste and
all unnecessary consumption of sup
plies and materials of every kind, will
also take care of minutes and muscle.
"Time is money" and it may be adj
ded--m,tScle Is bread and meat. The
writer has been a farmer, practical
farmer, nearly all of his life, and is
familiar with the "ways and means"
ofthe farm. 1t may be said with con-
fidence that more value is wasted on
the farm in the form of time and
muscle than in any other way. Not
only is much time actually unem-
ployed, buta large amount of the
labor performed during the time de-
voted to labor is sadly misdirected
and unskilfully applied, And here
the necessity for Drain-work is ap-
parent. A farmer should use his in
tellectual powers in directing the
manual operations on the farm. The
fundamental science of arithmetic is
very important part of the educa-
ton of farmer as well az of the bust
ness man. We are just now on the
eve of another season of cultivation,
and it behooves every farmer who
expects to succeed to inquire closely
into the best methods Of performing
all the operations of the farm. In
the first place, not an acre should be
cultivated from which, under average
conditions of season and circum-
stances, fair percentage of profit on
the investment in labor, fertilizers
and superintendent may not be
reasonably expected. The usual ad-
vice, given to secure such reasonable
profit, is to fertilize, and it is sound,
practical advice. But suppose the
fertilizer is not attainable, or the
farmer declines further risk or invest
ment in fertilizers? Then the alter
native is, don't cultivate the acre or
the field What is the use of bestow-
ing sweat and time and labor on a
field, to the value of say one hun
dred dollars, if there be no reasonable
expectation of reaping one hundred
dollars worth of crop? Is there any
I'm in the operation? We can under
stand and appreciate the pleasure that
may be derived from the daily con-
temptation of luxuriously growing
and maturing crop, even though the
expenses may well-nigh consume the
product (Which is rarely the case,
but if farmer plants crop whose
growth and cultivation and harvest.
ing affords no profit in money, no i'm.
prOvement to the soil, and no pleas.
ure to the grower, where is the reason
or common sense of such farming
The same reasoning may be applied
TO the policy Of growing particular
crops with reference to the peculiar
relation of the general cost of produc
lion and the market value of such
Crops-for instance, cotton. 1t ha:
been repeatedly estimated that ar
average crop of cotton, under aver
age conditions, costs approximately s!
cents per pound delivered in market
No sort of arithmetic can cipher out s
profit in growing cotton at cos
equal to the market price Of the staple
AS the market price cannot be in
creased at will, the only alternative
IS to produce cotton at a less cost, OF
Q,Ht planting 1t. There are many de
tails of farm operations, in the per
Torrance of which valuable time may
be saved and useless effort be spared
1t should be the business of every
farmer to study how to secure tn
largest results from given expendi
lure of time and effort. "Despise no
The day of small things" "many
,nickle makes a muckle," "take car
Of the minutes and the hours viii
lake care of themselves"